Browsers don't technically support it. They just let you type it. It's still converted before it's used. IE even converts it immediately so you can see it instead of doing it in the background. And the browsers are only displaying it a certain way. The servers where the sites are hosted require valid names. It isn't elitist just because you don't like it. The real URL is what is sent to the server to access a page/site/etc. And that URL is escaped regardless of how you type it in a browser or how the browser displays it. mIRC also gives you full control over hotlinking and you can create a hotlink script that will handle non-standard URLs if you need it. But as I said, if there's no specific reason not to allow support for it, then mIRC could choose to provide that support. But it certainly isn't a bug.
Regarding code pages, there have been numerous threads on it and it has been clearly stated multiple times that new versions of mIRC are not going to be backwards compatible with outdated code pages. mIRC 6.35 is available for anyone who needs it. It doesn't matter if the problem with using new versions of mIRC on a network that still allows code pages is missing nicks in a nick list or "corrupted" text when someone's talking or anything else. The simple fact is that mIRC does not support it and will not. That isn't a bug and it isn't changing. mIRC offers the older version if you need support for it and that's the most you'll get. If you really want support in new versions of mIRC, write a DLL that can provide the support.
Btw, no one ever claimed mIRC was perfect, so that's a completely irrelevant argument.
